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What People Get Wrong About AimPoint

by Mark Sweeney

AimPoint Takes Longer Than Traditional Green-ReadingLet’s imagine an alternate universe where everyone read greens by quickly feeling the slope in the line of their putt and then were finished with the read. Then imagine I advocated for everyone to instead squat behind the ball and have a look, then walk to the far side of the hole and squat down again and have second look, then walk to the low side and have a third look. I would imagine people would want to flog me in public for teaching something which would bring the pace of play to a grinding halt. Well that happens to be the world we live in, and AimPoint dramatically shortens that process by eliminating altogether the squatting and looking process in exchange for a single step. The only faster read is to not read at all.

AimPoint is a Just A Plumb-BobThe plumb-bob is a method to determine the direction of slope only and does not tell a player where to aim. And the bigger the slope value the more wrong the plumb-bob becomes. It also doesn’t adjust for changes in stimp and consider whether the putt is uphill or downhill. AimPoint gives not only the break direction but also a mathematically correct break amount regardless of the amount of slope, green speed or capture speed.

AimPoint Only Works With One Capture SpeedThe AimCharts developed in 2007 were based on the assumption of a 12 inch past-the-hole capture speed. However, the Express Read allows for any capture speed the player chooses by simply adjusting the amount of arm bend. The player can change his desired speed from putt to putt depending on the situation and still get the correct read.

You Have To Know The Stimp To Use AimPointWith The AimPoint Express Read the actual stimp value is irrelevant as the player makes all necessary speed adjustments via arm bend. This allows for a combination of stimp speeds, downhill and uphill putts, and varying capture speeds all to be handled with a single movement of the arm.

AimPoint Is Too ComplicatedThe AimPoint Express read was designed for juniors who haven’t learned angles yet in school and is as simple as a two step read. You just feel the slope then hold up the same number of fingers and you magically get a mathematically correct read. I have yet to meet anyone who couldn’t grasp the concept and have taught juniors as young as 8 years old.

Ben Hogan Didn’t Need AimPoint So Why Do I?This is my favorite. Hogan also didn’t need Pro V’s, metal woods, yardage books, a mental coach, or a physical trainer. But the reality is that performance and technology will continue to advance because everyone is looking for a competitive advantage, and once one player gets it the field needs to eventually catch up or get left behind. As an amateur you don’t really need any of those things, unless you care about your score. As a competitive player, ignoring advances might just be the beginning of the end.